Bicycle-saddle



Patented Apr.

W. L. DAVIS.

BICYCLE SADDLE.

(Application led Jan. 24, 1898.)

(No Model.)

PATENT turion.

IVALTER. L. DAVIS, lOF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BICYCLE- SADDLE.

SPECIFICATION forming 'part of Letters Patent No. 623.238 dated Aplil 18, 1899 Application filed January 24, 139 8.

To all zoll/0777, it ntrtg/ concern:

Be it known that I, IVALTER L. DAVIS, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and lState of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bicycle-Saddles; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to saddles for bicycles, and it relates more especially to the construction of the pads of such saddles, to the pad-supporting parts or frames of saddles, to the springs by which saddles are supported upon the bicycles, and to other features of construction in saddles.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described, and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, illustratingr my invention, Figure lis a plan view of a saddle embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view through the pads at one side of the saddle,taken on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Figx is a view from beneath the frame or pad-support forming one-half of the saddle. Fig. a is a detail sectional elevation of the device for clamping the saddle-spring to the seat-post of the bicycle. Fig. 5 is a detailed section taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 4, showing the said clamping device in end view. Fig. G is a detail section taken on line G 6 through one of the pads forming the front part or pommel of the saddle. Fig. 7 is a detail section taken on the line 7 7 ot' Fig. l.

The saddle consists generally of two main or seat pads or cushions A A, on which the weight of the rider is supported, and two front or pommel pads B B, which together constitute the forwardly-projecting part or .pom mel of the saddle. The pads or cushions A and B at each side of the saddle are snpported by pad-frames, (indicated as a whole by C C,) which are arranged at opposite sides oi', thc center line of the saddle and are rigidly connected by transverse frame members D D at the front and rear ofthe saddle, so as to form an opening or space between said pad-frames, in which 'opening or space is located the supportingspring E. Said spring extends longitudinally ot` the saddle from the front to the rear end of the same and is connected at its ends with the frame and at a point between its ends with the seat-post F or other part of the bicycle by means ot' a clam ping device, (indicated as a Whole by G,) which clamping device is shown in the drawings as adapted to rigidly attach the spring to the horizontal bar or member F' at the top of said post.

First referring in detail to the construction ot the frame of the saddle, which in itself enibodies features ot novelty independent of the special construction ot' vthe pads or cushions or other parts, said frame is made as follows: Each pad-frame C consists of an open thin metal ring which is connected with its fellow by transverse metal strips constituting the cross-pieces D and D'. As a c onvenientway of constructing said pad-frames C each frame consists of a strip ot sheet metal which is bent into oval form to constitute a ring c, which completely surrounds the seat-pad A, and to also form a U-shaped forwardly-projecting part or loop c', which embraces the side and front edges of the pad B. One end portion c2 of the said strip extends between the pads A and B and is secured by rivets or otherwise at its extremityto the main part of the strip, as seen at c3, while the opposite end portion terminates at the inner end of the pad A, near the pad B, and is riveted to the end portion c2, as seen at c4. The cross-pieces D D' consist of two metal strips CZ CZ', which overlap and are bolted at their ends to the front and rear portions of the frames C, and a reinforcing loop-shaped strip d2, which extends along the inner faces ot the cross-pieces d d. and also along the inner or adjacent faces of the frame C and is riveted or otherwise rigidly secured to both of said parts. The said reinforcing-strip cl2 not only affords a'stronger and more rigid connection between the padframes C and C at the front and rear of the saddle, but it also gives greater strength or rigidity to said cnshion-frames at their inner parts, so as to preserve the same from distortion or liability of bending under the strain due to the weight of the rider, which tends to bend downwardly or depress the outer parts ot' the pad frames. The construction described in the pad-frames and the parts con necting them is not only a strong and desirable TOO one, but is one which affords an exceedingly cheap construction, inasmuch as each padframe C consists of a single strip of metal bent into the proper shape and having its ends riveted together in the manner described.

Referring now to the construction of the seat-pads A, which in themselves embrace distinctive features of novelty, said pads are constructed as follows: The top or seat surface of the pad is formed by a layer ct of leather or other suitable flexible material, which is secured at its edges to the padframe, in this instance by being attached Ato the inner surface of the metal strip forming said frame. Within an inclosure, of which the flexible layer d forms the top, is located a pneumatic cushion or bag H, which has imperforate walls of rubber and preferably consists of a rubber ball such as is sold for the use of children indoors, the same being filled with air under pressure and the pressure being retained by reason of the impervious character of the walls of the bag. A cupshaped receptacle is provided in the padframe, within which the rubber bag rests, such receptacle being provided with an opening through which the bag or ball is forced or squeezed when in its inflated condition, it being understood that the bag or ball is never deflated, but is inserted in place in the saddle in its inflated condition, as before stated. As herein shown, the bottom of the receptacle in which the ball rests is formed by pieces or iiaps I of leather or other flexible material, which are secured at their outer margins to the pad-frame and are provided at their free edges with holes i for lacing-strings I or other adjustable fastening devices by which the pieces or flaps I may be drawn together or placed under tension sufficient to hold the ball H in proper position andjto sustain the same under the weight of the rider. 'lhe said pieces or fiaps'I are herein shown as riveted to the frame-strip c, along with the edges of the covering-layer a. A protecting-layer J, of stiff leather or thin metal, is placed between the ball H and the flaps I, both to protect the ball from wear, rubbing, or other friet-ion of the edges of the flap and the fastening devices and to cover the open spaces that may remain between the edges of said flap when the latter are laced or secured together. In connection with the'pad-frame made in the special frame described-nam ely, by means of a loop or ring of metal-I provide a reinforcing or protecting band or strip K, of leather or like material which is somewhat stiff, but at the same time flexible, said ring or strip K being extended somewhat above the upper margin of the pad-frame and being preferably tapered or beveled at its edge, which projects above the said frame. The protecting-strip thus arranged serves to prevent the rubber ball from being pressed or bulging outwardly over the edge of the frame under the tension coming thereon or when subjected to the weight of the rider,

it being Obvious that in the absence of such protecting-strip the rubber might, if pressed outwardly or folded over the edge of the strip, be cut 'or worn through by the pressure thereon of the frame at its part adjacent to and above the edge ofsaid frame. A seatpad consisting of an inclosure having a flexible top and an imperf'orate rubber bag or ball confined within the same possesses the ad Vantage of affording a seat-pad having to a higher degree the desirable capacity for adjustment to the form of the parts of the body coming in contact therewith, while at the same time being cheap and simple in construction and of little trouble in use, because not requiring the use of an air-pump for inflation. The bag or ball thus made is found not to become de-V flated under ordinary uses or pressures, and itl Aany escape of air shall occur by reason of the puncture of the wall or otherwise such balls could be renewed at a very trifling expense. One important feature of the invention, so far as the seat-pad is concerned, is embraced in the construction by which the receptacle containing the ball H may be opened to practically its full size to receive the ball when in an inflated condition, this result being secured by the employment of flexible pieces or flaps as a means of closing the bottom wall of the receptacle for the ball. An obvious advantage is gained by the use of a pad-frame formed of an open metal ring, as described, in connection with a pad having an imperforate ball within a receptacle or inclosure for the reason that said frame in this construction forms, in effect, a part of the re ceptacle for the ball or bag and aifords a convenient means of attaching the flexible top and bottom walls of the inclosure. It will be obvious that by reason of the fact that the ballV or bag is completely inclosed orsurrounded by and confined -within an outer covering which forms a non-expansible inclosure pressure tending to burst the same will come upon the covering or inclosure and not upon the ball, it being obvious that no distention of the ball can take place without'an expansion of the receptacle, which latter is made so strong as to prevent any material distention of the ball itself.

Now referring to the construction of the front or pommel pad I3, the same consists of a metal base or supporting-piece B', to the ends of which are attached two spring-arms b b, which rest upon a supporting piece or plate B2, inserted and secured within the pad frame C. The pad-base B is shown as made of sheet metal, bent or swaged into convex form and having the spring-arms b made integral therewith. Said supporting-piece B2,

as herein shown, is made of wood ormetal, and the spring-supporting arms b are longitudinally slotted at their inner ends, are overlapped, and are held in place by means of a screw '133, which passes through the slots in the arms and enters said supporting-piece B2. The base B affords a support for the pad B,

which consists of a iiexible cover b', attached at its edges to the base A', and an intermediate padding or filling of suitably-yielding material. The pads l5, constructed as described, are not only soft and yielding in themselves by reason of their padded construction, but are adapted to yield vertically in the pad-frame by the resiliency of the snpporting-arms b b. The margins of the pads B are preferably fitted closely toV and within the pad-frame and are adapted to slide therein during the vertical movement or yielding of the said pads.

Now referring to the details of construction in the supporting-spring E, said spring is herein shown as formed of two pieces of wire arranged substantially parallel with each other and so shaped as to rest within the space between the pad-frames, the wires forming the parts of the spring being bent at the front and rear ends thereof to constitute transverse parts e e, which engage holding or socket pieces E E2- at the front and rear of the saddle, said socket-pieces, in connection withthe transverse parts of the spring, forming pivot-al connections of the ends of the spring with the saddle -frame As herein shown, the socket-pieces E E2 are secured to the inner verticalfaces of the transverse connecting members D D of the frame, the securing means consisting of screws or rivets.

The attached device G for detachably securing the spring E to the seat-post F consists of two main parts or plates G' G2, a

clamping-block g, and a set-screw g', which passes through the clamping-plate G and bears against the clamping-block, so as to force the latter toward the lower member G2 and into Contact with the horizontal part or arm F of the seat-post, which rests in asocket formed in said member G2. Said clamping members G G2 are generally of U formand provided with hooked end portions g2 gwhich extend past each other and engage opposite sides of the parallel side portions of the spring E. In the particular construction illustrated the plate G is made of considerable width and provided with centrally-arran ged recesses and notches through which the centrally-arran ged ends g3 of the plate G2 extend. The construction described obviously aifords a cheap and simple olampingdevice forsecuringthe spring ofthe form shown to the seat-post.

The rod constituting the spring E is shown in Fig. 4C as being bent downwardly or depressed in its part which immediately engages the clamping device, the clamping ends of which are curved to lit the curvature of the spring, so that adjustment of the angular position of the saddle may be effected by shifting the spring end wise in or with respect to the said clamping device. The main parts of said spring E, which projects forwardly and inwardly from the clamping device, are, however, arranged horizontally,this construction affording much greater resiliencyin the spring than is given by prior constructions,

in which the spring is curved from end to end and rigidly attached at its forward and rear ends to the saddle. They superior action of the spring in this regard will be understood by consideration of the fact that the horizontal arrangement of the forward and rear parts of the spring give them considerable freedom of vertical movement at their extremities, which is not restricted to any appreciable extent by their attachment to the saddle-base, as is the case where the spring is of curved form and much elevated at its ends above its point of support.

By the employment of the stiff protectinglayer J beneath the inflated ball or bag the latter is held up in place and caused to press forcibly against the top layeror cover of the inclosnre, the stiffness or rigidity of the said layer J obviously preventing the supporting, .iiaps I from sinking or sagging under the pressure of the ball thereon. The employment of adjustable fastening devices for drawing together the edges of the said flaps obg viously aifords a means for varying orad justing the pressure upon and thereby varying the hardness and supporting capacity of the ball or bag in accordance with the weight of the rider, it being of course necessary that the ball should always be placed under such pressure as to prevent its top surface being depressed so far as to permit contact of the rider with the saddle-frame under the jolts and jars of rough riding. The adjustable flaps or securing devices referred to in connection with the stiff layer J obviously constitutes, in effect, a vertically-adjustable support beneath the inflated ball or bag by which the same may be raised or lowered in accordance with the weight of the rider.

The employment of two separate pad-frames with a space between them has the important advantage of affording a space for the spring and at the same time providing the space or opening between the pads of the saddle, which are admittedly desirable, if not necessary, for hygienic reasons. Y

The making of the pad-frame of thin metal bars or strips which are disposed vertically has the advantage that the strains are brought edgewise on the metal, and the pad-frames are thereby made very strong, while light in weight. I prefer to bend inwardly the upper edges of the pad-frame at the outer and forward sides of the seat-pads, as shown in Fig. 7, so as to give smooth surface at these parts for contact with the thighs of the rider, the

inturned upper edges of the frame bars or.

IOO

ing device is in full view of the rider and that a wrench may be applied with great ease to the clamping-bolt by reason of its position between and near the upper surface of the pads.

I claim as my inventionl. A saddle comprising two separate padframes each consisting of a single strip of metal which is vertically disposed in the direction of its width and bent to form a complete ring to receive a seat-pad and a forwardly-extending loop to receive a pommelpad, separate seat and pommel pads in said rings and loops and a connection between the frames consisting of iiat transverse strips secured rigidly to the rear faces of the said rings and the front faces ofthe pommel-loops.

2. A saddle comprising two separate padframes, each consisting` of a single strip of metalbent to form a ring to receive a seatpad and a forwardly-extending loop to receive a pommel-pad and a connection between the pads consisting of transverse strips secured to the Jfront and rear of the pad-.frames and a reinforcing-strip of looped form the outer side portions of which extend along and are secured to the inner surfaces of the transverse strips and to the adjacent surfaces of the pad-frames.

3. A saddle .comprising two separate padframes each consisting of a single strip of metal, which is vertically disposed in the direction of its width, and bent to form a ring to receive a seat-pad and a forwardly-extending loop to receive a pommel-pad, separate seat and pommel pads in each of said frames and a connection between the pad-frames consisting of vertically-arranged transverse strips secured to the front and the rear of the padframes and a reinforcing-strip of looped form secured to the inner surfaces of the transverse strips and to the adjacent surfaces of the padframes. j

4. The combination with a pad-frame provided with a rigid inclosing ring to receive a pad, of a pad comprising an iniiatable bag and an inclosure for the same consisting of a layer of flexible material attached at its margins to the inner side of said ring and forming one side of said inclosure and flexible flaps forming the opposite side of said inclosure said aps being also secured at their margins to the inner side of said ring adjacent to the margin of said layer and being provided with attaching means by which their edges may be secured together.

5. A pad-frame for saddles comprising a strip of metal which is vertically disposed in the direction of its width and bent to form a ring to inclose and support a seat-pad and a forwardly-extending loop to receive a pommel-pad, an iniiatable bag and an inclosure for the same, consisting of a layer of flexible material attached at its margin to the inner side of said ring and forming the uppe-r side of said pad and a support for said bag secured also at its margin to the inner side of said iring adjacent to the margin of said layer and constructed to permit the bag to be inserted therethrough into said inclosure.

6. The combination with a pad-frame provided with an open loop or ring to receive a seat-pad consisting of a iiat strip of metal vertically disposed in the direction of its width, of layers of flexible material attached margin to margin to the inner side of said ring and forming the vupper and lower walls of an inclosure for a rubber bag, a bag containing air under pressure located within said inclosure and a protecting-strip of leather or like material located between the bag and frame and projecting at its upper edge above said frame-loop to protect the bagfrom injury.

7. A saddle, comprising two Pad-frames which are separated by an open space and connected by cross-pieces at the front and rear of the saddle and a supporting-spring located in said space between the pad-frames, connected at its ends with the saddle and provided between its ends with a clamping'means for securing it to a support.

8. A saddle'comprising two parts separated by an intermediate space, and a spring located in said space and attached at its ends to the front and rear parts of the saddle; said spring being provided between its ends with an attaching device for securing it to a saddlesupport, and having end portions which project horizontally from said attaching device and form the spring-arms by which the saddle is yieldingly supported.

9. A saddle com prising two pad-supporting frames, seat-pads and pommel-pads inserted in said frames, cross bars connecting the frames at the front and rear of the saddle, a supporting-spring located in the space between said pad-frames, said spring being attached at its front and rear ends to said crosspieees, and a clamping device engaging the spring between its ends for attaching the same to a saddle-support.

10. A saddle comprising two pad-frames, each consisting of an open ring to receive the seat-pad and a loop projecting forward therefrom to receive a pommel-pad, a seat-pad in said ring consisting of an imperforate rubber ball or bag and an inclosure therefor consisting of fiexible layers attached to said ring and a pommel-pad located in the said loop and provided with spring-arms by which itis yieldingly supported.

11. A saddle, comprising a pad-supporting frame and a pommel-pad consisting of a base provided with spring-arms which restlupon the frame and a padded covering applied over said base.

12. A saddle comprising a pad-frame and a pommel-pad, the latter embracing a metal base, spring-arms attached to the end of the base and extending toward and overlapping each other at their free ends and means engaging both of said arms for confining the pad upon the pad-frame.

loo

13. A saddle comprising a pad-frame and a poininel-pad, the latter embracing a sheetmetal base havingintegral spring-arms which rest upon the pad-frame and a padded covering applied over said base.

11i. A saddle comprisinga pad-frame, having an open forwardly-projecting loop to receive a po1ninel-pad,a supporting-piece secured in said loop and a poininel-pad fitting Within the loop above said supporting-piece, and embracing aA metal base having springarins which overlap each other and have sliding connection with said supporting-piece and a padded covering applied over said base.

l5. A saddle comprising two separate padfraines each consisting of a Single strip of metal bent to form a ring to receive a seat- IVitnesses:

WILLIAM L. HALL, R. CUTHBERT VIVIAN. 

